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Checked out the Fulton Fish Market with my friend C.V. yesterday at 4am. Even though I've always known that there was a working fish market there, it still surprised the hell out of me to see it in action. I guess it's something about seeing that one block all lit-up and alive with activity in an otherwise dark and lifeless area that you just can't prepare for. Anyway, we bought some real top-grade uni and way too much ikura. Ikura, anyone? 
These are from the archives. I was going through my old photos when I came across these. I had forgotten all about them! Back when I did the travelogue for Spain (July 2002), I just ran out of time and patience to process and organize all the photos. I took over 4,500+ shots, for crying out loud! And it was easy to overlook these in order to work on the far sexier Guggenheim Bilbao, Mies' Barcelona Pavilion and all the Gaudí buildings. Looking back now, MACBA certainly deserves a place along with all the other architecture I've put up on the site.
Been back from China for almost 2 weeks. I spent the first week paralyzed by the excruciating pain of watching the Yankees lose another World Series. And since then I've been putting together this travelogue which has turned out to be the largest one I've done to date. What was the highlight of 2½ weeks in China? The pandas! Aside from the cute pandas, I was surprised by the beauty of Dujiangyan (particularly Erwang Miao). Having traveled to China several times and visited many so-called historical sites, I've been disappointed time and again by their shoddy restoration and upkeep that rob them of any sense of history and timeless beauty. Not here. I have to say this was my favorite China historical site I've visited so far (more so than anything I've seen in Beijing, for example... including the Forbidden City).
Spent a few dull days in San Francisco last week. To me, San Francisco is just a very, very large small town. A charming town, yes, just not the most exciting. It simply doesn't have as many cultural attractions as other cities its size. And since American cities don't have rich histories behind them, minus the culture, what else is left? It's not a particularly great town for shopping. It's not a particularly great town for drunken revelries. It's supposed to be good for eating, I guess, but I didn't get a chance to sample that. No doubt it's a very pleasant place to live (although there are plenty of pleasant places that are not on fault lines), but I'm a tourist, I want to be entertained! I'm leaving for HK and China later today for the next 2½ weeks. Check back then for more photos.
In the September 4th Arts section of the New York Times, there was an article about two twisted, rusted metal piers by Riverside Park South. Being the sheep that I am, whatever the Times talks about, I check out. So I went and took a look around. With a nickname like "Spaghetti" Pier, how could I not?
Spent a day and a half in Boston last week. Highlights were:
Those were the architecture. And then there's the infrastructure: Boston's fancy new bridge and assorted other infrastructure around the city.
Not travel-related (again), but I have put up some photos of Chinatown after dark on the Travelogues page. Maybe it's time to rename this site...
I'll be going to Boston on Thursday and I should have some more photos then.
Took a tour of Governors Island.
I went hiking this past weekend. Yes. Hiking. You are probably saying to youself: "Hiking? You must be kidding me. You don't hike." And, of course, you would be right. I don't camp. I don't fish. I don't climb. And I don't hike. But last Saturday, I got up at 6 (yes, 6am), packed the camera, the tripod, water bottles, some small snacks, and embarked on my own version of a "urban hike" right here in Manhattan. I had to travel all the way to Javit Center, for crissakes! That's far! We hiked the length of the High Line (the abandoned tracks running from Javit through Chelsea to the Meat Packing District). It's slightly less babaric (and, to me, infinitely more interesting) than a hike through some random woods. I got to see a part of Manhattan that I had never seen before. (Disclaimer: Even though it's "less barbaric" I still managed to sprain my neck crawling under some fence...)
Last month, with the aid of a rental car, we took a drive upstate to see the new Dia at Beacon and also Gehry's Fisher Center... I've put up some photos of the Fisher Center. No Dia because photography is not allowed inside and outside it is basically just a huge, plain box. Amazing space inside, though. 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 All images and text copyright © Liao Yusheng. He can be reached at liao@yusheng.ca. |
